We took a hike (about 5km round trip) along a creek with some interesting properties. It is a "Kalktuffback" which means a Limestone "Tuff" Brook..."Tuff" being a term meaning "porous rock formed as deposits in underground streams or springs." So the lime in the water builds up on the bottom of the stream and makes for interesting little stepped waterfalls.

Here is an example of the stepped falls:

This is another example but it is covered by a lot of foliage:

We also looked at (but didn't pick!) mushrooms and funghi along the way:

and also found lots of pretty little flowers:

We walked until we got to the sources, the Lillachquelle (Lillach spring)

On the way back we walked through Weißenohe where we saw the following painting on a barn wall:

We stopped for lunch at the Klosterbrauerei (Cloister Brewery) Weißenohe:

Friday, July 9, 2010

My German teacher had told us about a medieval town called Dinkelsbühl that is supposed to like Rothenberg ob der Tauber but less touristy. If I haven't blogged about Rothenberg ob der Tauber (one of the cutest German towns ever) I will have to remedy that.

Dinkelsbühl is still surrounded by the old medieval walls and towers and is very typical for a German town of the 15th to early 17th century.

The walls have many towers.

We had ice cream here...

The Deutsches Haus (third house from the left) , the ancestral home of the counts of Drechsel-Deufstetten, is a fine specimen of the German renaissance style of wooden architecture.

St. George's church tower that we climbed allllll the way up.

Inside St. George's...

Door inside the church...

Closeup of the hinges...

View from the tower.

Another tower.

Roses!

Dinky Dinkelsbühl

Woernitz gate.

I would agree that it is less touristy...it seems a town that people actually live in and there are less "Schneeball" shops and "Knight" shop and trinkets and the like. There were some Potteries and a shop with wood carving and nativity figures that were of interest.